A Sharp Divide

The world of Syracuse Football has become like a game of high stakes poker.

The prize?

Greg Robinson's job status as head football coach at Syracuse.

The players?

Syracuse fans vs Daryl Gross.

The fans have laid down their cards.

The lost revenue from the sea of empty seats at The Carrier Dome, not to mention all those hot dogs, beers, parking spots, and Otto the Orange dolls that go unsold because of the lack of attendance.

The loud cries for change left on message boards, comments in blogs, callers to talk radio, conversation around the water cooler, and quite possibly anywhere you went.

The empty feeling that it's football team is not competitive, not going in the right direction, and has become a laughing stock in the world of college football.

Your move, Daryl.

That move is now clear.

Daryl Gross is going all in with Greg Robinson.

There is a great line in the movie White Men Can't Jump when Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes) tells Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) he can't really hear the music of Jimi Hendrix.

"Look man, Your can listen to Jimi but you can't hear him. There's a difference man. Just because your listening to him doesn't mean you're hearing him."

Daryl Gross heard Greg Robinson.

"These past several days I had extensive discussions with Greg, and he is extremely disappointed in the outcome of this season and wants to see success in the next campaign. He has agreed to seriously consider all options and changes that would improve the team's performance and show significant progress next season. Greg clearly understands that the program needs to demonstrate significant progress next year, and he believes that he can bring Syracuse football back. We want him to succeed and we expect him to do that.

Daryl Gross heard a trusted group of advisors.
"Over the past several days, I have talked with a wide range of people who appreciate the strong history and tradition of Syracuse football and the challenges the program has faced before - such as former players Floyd Little and Art Monk, and former coaches like Coach Mac. I also talked with chair-elect of the University's Board of Trustees John Chapple and Chuck Zimmerman, a former player and Varsity Club Board member. Everyone I talked with provided instrumental feedback."

You? Well, he listened.

We also recognize that as deeply as the SU community wants to win, we are a place of integrity and commitment, and that it is important to provide our head coaches with a legitimate and reasonable time frame in which to demonstrate progress.

Like any good poker player would, Gross is also doing his best to bluff us.

From his official statement:

Greg clearly understands that the program needs to demonstrate significant progress next year, and he believes that he can bring Syracuse football back.

Now take a look at this from an interview with Donnie Webb of the Post Standard.

"Significant progress is something that's going to be obvious whether it's me or it's you," Gross said. "I don't know how to quantify that. I'll go back to that quote I used to use - We'll be good when we're good. It doesn't mean it has a number on it or face to it, but it'll be very obvious to us that, hey, you know what, these guys are going in the direction that we think we can compete for championships in the future."

Don't know how to quantify that? It doesn't mean it has a number on it or face to it? It will be very obvious to us?

First of all, it's very obvious to a lot of us now that this thing ain't working.

Second of all, I know you don't want to back yourself into a corner by setting the measure of success by a certain number of wins, but after three years of watching a football team stuck in neutral, you owe a better explanation that that to the fans, Daryl.

Here is some more.

"At the end of the day, it's wins and losses."

When Donnie pressed Daryl on that question, that if it was about that than why not make a change, the spin cycle was turned on.

"When you look at the overall program, you've got to see, how do you set this up best? Have you given someone a legitimate chance to have success. The guy . . . I don't think anyone would disagree . . . has a pretty good eye for talent. He has two (recruiting) classes. He's about to have a third." "The first one, as we know, is full of gaps. That's natural in transition. Well, our gaps were pretty significant. So he's had two classes and he has a pretty good eye for talent and now you've got a third class coming in."

OK, so it's about wins and losses...starting now? If this truly was "about wins and losses at the end of the day", then a change would have been made.

Greg Robinson. 7 wins, 28 losses. What more do you need to know?

*Sigh*

I know I don't speak for all of you here. Many fans want to give Robinson another shot. They believe Gross's words that three seasons are not enough and Greg needs more time and more tools to fix this leaky sink that SU Football has become.

Me? I'm tired of sloshing around in the water.

I've seen enough to believe that Greg Robinson, while an honorable, enthusiastic, and passionate man, just isn't the right guy to get Syracuse back to the level of success it once enjoyed.

I hope I'm wrong on that. To steal a phrase from Daryl Gross, "at the end of the day" I just want to see the program be successful. Heck, I just want to have fun again while watching Syracuse Football. Can we just start there?

One only has to look at the current Syracuse Basketball team for proof that SU fans will gut it out if they believe the product is going somewhere. It's obvious Jim Boeheim's bunch is going to have it's growing pains (especially on defense), but I think in their heart every SU Basketball fan sees the light at the end of the tunnel with this team. That once these young guys figure things out, that success will come their way. The difference is, they are fun to watch even while they are going throw the growing pains.

Outside of small flashes like the occasional Mike Williams TD grab or a Max Suter kickoff return, "fun" would not be a word I would refer to often when watching Syracuse Football these days.

I will say this. There is something to admire about Gross's loyalty. It would have been easy to please the masses and send Greg on his way. But Gross is sticking by his guy. We all have a trusted circle of friends and advisers we turn to in tough times. Gross's inner circle told him to choose loyalty.

He is also banking on the old expression that what it popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular. We know the popular thing would have been to Fire Robinson. Gross better hope keeping him is the right thing.

So now we go back to the game.

Gross has pushed all the chips to the middle of the table. On his cards read the fate of the 2008 Syracuse Football Season.

Maybe one year from now, when we finally see those cards, we can all stand up and shake Daryl's hand and congratulate him on a game well played.